


QUESTIONS?

by Krafter2014



Series: Finances [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Crossover, Gen, Not Steve Friendly, Not Team!Cap Friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:35:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29737416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krafter2014/pseuds/Krafter2014
Summary: This occurs in the timeline immediately after Chapter 5 of 'What Now?' and it's probably best to read the previous stories to get all the nuances in this one :)An eagerly awaited press conference doesn't go well for some people.*Thoughts* during a conversation.
Series: Finances [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1051442
Comments: 54
Kudos: 221





	QUESTIONS?

**Author's Note:**

> Some setting up  
> This chapter ends on a slight cliffhanger, but I'm told it's not bad, and I wanted to get it posted. The next chapter is started, and the muse is is being good to me on this series, so I hope to have it posted within a decent (for me) time frame. I also have the next chapter of 'What Now?" started :)

The press conference should have started fifteen minutes ago and the audience sitting in front of an empty table was getting very impatient. Most of the reporters in the front rows weren't, as they were all making notes on what members of the audience (and each other) were saying. They hadn't expected their stories were going to start writing themselves this fast without the Avengers even being present. The comments about the audiences' chairs compared to the table and chairs on the dais in front of them could be a story in and of themselves. 

Christine Everhart commented to her neighbor "At least Tony Stark arranges some entertainment when he's late to one of these things. This is just pitiful. It makes me wonder how much effort SI's putting into their PR if this is the result."

Eddie Brock's reply was slightly muffled as he tried to catch his (fortunately, not active yet) dropped microphone before it hit the floor, "Oh, they're 'trying to conserve money' and demanded a 'bare bones' venue, ignoring everything their experts told them. Then, they decided to let non-reporters attend and charged for those seats. And you'd think that after Barton's experience, they'd know that anything they talk about in public isn't going to be kept secret. It's like they're trying to shoot themselves in the foot."

"Of course, it's not like they've ever done an 'official Avengers' PR event themselves. Tony always used to do all of them before he left and Maria Hillfort took care of it after that, didn't she?" Christine's other neighbor chimed in. "Have any of the current team members ever done an official interview?" 

"Romanoff did that disaster after the data dump, but I don't know if you could call it an interview. She spent more time adjusting her necklace than answering any questions." Lois Lane's voice was very dry as she answered from the seat directly behind them. *It would be a good fit for a series on manipulation though.* she thought. "And Wilson didn't do too badly in that puff piece when he started working for that Free Flight company to develop a civilian version of his wings. At the very least he didn't, literally, run away from a reporter instead of answering a question."

"Which one did that? I hadn't heard about it." Peter Parker asked, from where he was sitting beside Lois, glad Maria had given him a photographer's badge letting him sit up front.

"Rogers apparently didn't or couldn't answer my question about just how did they know a person was HYDRA and what were they then doing with the so-called HYDRA agents when they did capture instead of kill one. I have video of him glaring at me, then dashing off, but my editor refused to use it. She was afraid of the backlash then, but it'll be part of whatever comes of this. We can't wait." Eddie felt very anticipatory as the noise in the room increased. The Avengers were entering the room with a stoic looking Maria Hillfort in front. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Parker's camera up and visibly in use. *This is going to be great. I'm glad Tony gave me a head's up at our last meeting about them being forced into this.* 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Maria looked at the waiting crowd and decided for the millionth time that she was extremely pleased she was not an official Avenger nor actually employed by them. She remembered her first meeting with Tony Stark after the Data Dump when she applied for a job with him. The not-so-dead Nick Fury had wanted her to be SHIELD’s/his entry point into SI while he and the also not-so-dead Coulson rebuilt SHIELD. She had argued against the idea to start with, but had gone to the interview planning to be so obnoxious that Stark (as she thought of him then) would never hire her in a million years. She had been very surprised when he not only hired her after telling her he knew what she was doing, but also put her in a position of some responsibility over multiple former SHIELD agents he and his employees had rescued after the Data Dump burned them. She had been awed at how fast her loyalty moved from SHIELD to Tony Stark and his company. 

She reminded herself to thank him yet again for the public relations education he’d offered her, she was going to need it as she stood in front of the fancy table and chairs Rogers had demanded be up on the stage (with his chair front and center, of course). *I wonder if he realizes how arrogant he looks sitting there in his uniform when all the others are in civilian clothes? Especially with the contrast against the industrial type venue he had also demanded. He just wouldn’t listen when I told him ‘you don’t want the reporters to be physically uncomfortable when you are visibly… not.’ Sam looks like he understands what a blood bath this is going to be. I have some sympathy for him, at least. Time to get started.* 

“Alright, everyone here knows the rules, this is a review.” *Even if it’s more for the clowns behind me than you* she thought. “Pictures without flash are allowed at any time, and the entire news conference is being recorded by SI. It should go without saying, but SI will be prosecuting for any stories based false information from this conference. If you are here with a professional badge, you must raise your hand with a question which should include who you are directing it at. No more than one question at a time will be accepted and no one will be allowed to ask another question until at least three others have been accepted and answered. If you do not have a professional badge, you were allowed to submit questions before this presentation with only the possibility that they would be answered, but you are not allowed to ask questions now, even to request clarification.” She could feel the biggest clown of all getting restless behind her as she prepared to let him speak. “Steve Rogers, Captain America will be speaking about some of those questions now.” *Probably not actually answering them, of course, but definitely talking.* She sat down at and mentally shook her head at how fast the sharks in front of her focused their attention on Rogers.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sam Wilson was well aware he would be cringing inside even before Rogers started to talk. He knew from the conversations he’d heard and participated in, that none of the others had any clue about how they were now regarded by the public. They were going to be blindsided, even after reviewing the questions submitted beforehand. He remembered when Rogers read those questions and how angry he got. Sam was anticipating many more angry rants from Rogers and the others after this news conference finished. He just hoped, for Maria’s sake, that they waited until they were in private, not still in front of any of this crowd, but that was probably unrealistic. 

Sam had tried so hard to continue to believe in the Captain America legend, to the point of ignoring everything showing him how unlike the legend the reality of the man was. Just like he told Maria right before the news conference, it was only when he could see how something Rogers wanted would affect him/his business personally, that he understood Rogers self-centered selfishness, and from there had his eyes opened to what other members of the team were actually like. {see Chapter 5 of 'What Now?}

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Three of the six people sitting at that fancy table were eagerly anticipating complete vindication, two were much more realistic, and the leader was starting a self-righteous speech. The audience sitting in the uncomfortable chairs watching them could not wait.

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a crossover with DC, no one else from that universe will be showing up in mine, but I couldn't resist using Lois Lane.


End file.
